Parents are often frustrated by the constant attention and demands that children
            
             put on them. Every parent experiences anger at some point when raising a child. What is
            
             important is that they recognize they have lost control and there are alternative ways to
            
             handle the situation. Spanking may stop the behaviour right way, but in the long term is
            
             not an effective strategy. Young children learn to behave in violent ways through an adult
            
             example and spanking is a child's earliest experience with violence. It claws at the self-
            
             esteem and sense of security a child has, and when inflicted in anger, could escalate to
            
             something much more. Disciplinary spanking is used when a parent is tired, busy,
            
             frustrated or just wants a quick reaction from their misbehaving child. Parents are not
            
             thinking rationally when they spank, and this is when 'just disciplining' develops into
            
             inappropriate and unnecessary action. Without the criminalization of spanking, the
            
             increase in child abuse is inevitable. Looking at alternative methods, the negative effects
            
             for a child and society as a whole and how abusive parents are able to use Section 43 of
            
             the Criminal Code as a shield; further suggests how preventable and ineffective spanking
            
             really is.
            
             Using alternative methods of discipline will decrease the possibility of spanking
            
             escalating to child abuse. It is not proven that spanking your child is an effective form of
            
             discipline. Many parents find discussions, time-outs, isolation, confiscating the object in
            
             question or removing privileges to be more appropriate when teaching children right from
            
             wrong. Educating parents on the issue is crucial to increase the awareness and availability
            
             of alternative methods and to demonstrate to them that improving communication skills
            
             with your child is one of the many positive techniques used when disciplining. The
            
             controve...